Jesse Joshua Watson lives in Port Townsend with his wife and sons and his lifelong pursuit is painting.

"My art mostly comes in waves. I focus intensely on one subject matter both to study it visually and to grow artistically. This new body of work is a study of women in Port Townsend. For years I've painted masculine subjects and now I turn to the feminine as a way to honor women in our community and to better understand for myself how I might portray women as a focal point in my art."

Jesse's work has been exhibited up and down the west coast as well as in New York City. In addition to painting and exhibiting fine art, he illustrates books for kids.

Richard Jesse Watson is an accomplished painter and perpetual experimenter. He often breaks out of boxes in his quest for originality. Sculpting provides a broader sandbox for exploration beyond the canvas edge.

Lost objects. Found objects. Repurposed stuff. Not-so-junk dipped in the golden pond of Fooling Around. The so-called "necessities" of life all too soon wear out, burn out, break or fall through a crack, then wait to be found again.

"But like Frankenstein's mother, I rescue doomed doo-dads in an artistic recombinant DNA kind of way. Am I their maker, re-maker or muse? Or are they mine? I love being in this zone coaxing dreams into reality or caressing reality back into a dream."

Richard has received numerous awards and several of his books were New York Times Bestsellers. His paintings hang in corporate and private collections in the U.S. and internationally, and in museums, including a solo exhibition at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

Jesse's son, Clay, one of the third-generation Port Townsend Watsons, will provide the music for the reception.